twojays

The second option you mention is the tour with Xuan. We did that exact tour last week, and could not fault it. Xuan is a friendly young man, very passionate about his work, and wants to give you the best day, seeing what you want to see. The Trishaw ride is very exciting and I am sure your teens will love it.

I would not hesitate in recommending him, and would suggest emailing him at tourwithxuan@gmail.com telling him what you want, and he will help you all he can.

I completely agree with everything in the previous post by deepblupond. Good luck, and enjoy your time in Ho Chi Minh city.

We contacted Xuan by email after seeing the reviews on here, and are so glad that we did. He already had a couple booked with him the day we wanted who were willing to share - so there were just four of us. Xuan explained where to meet him - at the gates to the port - and he was there waiting, with our names on a board. He had a mini-bus and driver waiting. There was free Wi-fi and water supplied.

Xuan is very enthusiatic and keen to give us information and it was important to him that he gave us the best day possible.

We went to places that a large tour would never be able to go. e.g. the van dropped off, and Xuan led us through a narrow street food market, and then a flower market - and the van would appear to pick us up again.

We did the famous, not to be missed "Trishaw" ride - and Xuan would keep appearing on the back of a motorbike, taking photos and videos of us. In fact he took well over 100 photos of us during the day, and has sent us the link so that we can download them - such a bonus!

He treated us to coffee on the Coffee Ship - an experience in itself. He was able to take us up the former CIA building, which is not open to the public, as well as seeing many other magnificent buildings (Post Office, Opera House, City Hall etc), and gave us time to spend in the War Remnants Museum. Xuan took us a lovely restaurant for lunch, which we never could have found on our own.

All in all, an excellent day, with personal attention, and we would highly recommend Tour with Xuan to anyone. (He even gave us all a hug as we said goodbye). Do not hesitate to contact him on tourwithxuan@gmail.com

But there were plenty of Taxis at the Heritage Village if you wanted to get one from there.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

You are right - there were already 20 Dirhams on the Meter when we got in at the Port, but there really is no other choice.

As for walking from the Heritage Village to the Mall - this is what we did, but I suppose it depends how much time you have, or how much you like walking. It probably took us about 20 mins Max, and it is a straight road.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The regulations have just changed, and if you are not on an organised excursion, then you can only exit the port via a taxi, or the HOHO bus, which is allowed inside.

The Grand Mosque is amazing, and if you go straight there, you can join a free tour at 10 am, which lasts about 45 mins to an hour and is very informative.

Another good place to visit is the Heritage Village - free entry. This is near to the Marina Mall, and the Corniche.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We are at Dubai Port terminal now. Arrived before 10 am this morning. Costa staff very helpful..

They take your luggage (tagged with your cabin number) and say that these will be at your Cabin at 20.00. So you don't have to worry about those anymore, and they check your passport and boarding cards, and you fill in the medical form, but they give these back to you.

You are then free to go into Dubai by taxi, or the first free shuttle bus to a Mall is at 13.15, if you want to.

We are to begin boarding at 15.00.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We are just at Dubai Port Terminal now waiting to board. We got an email with a link to the web checkin, a few days before the cruise, and the Cabin number had been allocated. It was a Premium balcony, rather than a Classic Balcony, so,we were happy with that. Hope this helps.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We are arriving this Friday (9th) in Dubai on an overnight flight at 7.10 am.

I was told that Embarkation would start at 12.00 noon, although they may let us on earlier.

Wouldn't be too happy about waiting until 20.00!

We have just booked today on the same basis - but our cruise starts this Friday (9th) flying out to Dubai on Thursday night. I understood that the cabin would be allocated on arrival - but that may just be because we have booked at short notice.

We actually booked two tours - a half day in Alexandria, and full day from Port Said to Pyramids, choosing the option to pay in cash at the end of each tour.

We had the same Guide and driver each day. Our guide Karim was excellent, as was our driver Samir. Karim was extremely knowledgeable, professional, reliable, helpful & friendly. He was constantly checking with us that we were happy and satisfied at all times. We felt totally safe with him and Samir, who was a brilliant driver. We fully trusted them both.

Karim made our trip very interesting, telling us many facts about the places we were visiting.

We booked with Egypt Last Minute ( a sister company to Ramses) because it provided very good value in comparison with the Ship's tours, and was more flexible. We liked being able to have a private tour for our own group of 8 friends, and being able to pay at the end of the day.

(Our Visas were provided on board our Ship at no extra charge - which was a stamp on an empty page)

I would certainly recommended "Egypt Last Minute" to anyone looking for a Tour in Egypt.:)

Thanks so much for posting the recent pictures & info about the Celebration. We are going on same Cruise as you on Monday (17th June) - so that was really helpful!

:)